Trip at a Glance

Company

Locations

Activities

Price

Duration

Departure Day(s) and Time(s)

7pm ; please fill out send request from for availability

Starting Location

Cathedral Square, across from the Holy Rosary Cathedral at Dunsmuir & Richards Streets

Highlights

Learn about Joe Celona, Mobster - Crime boss and bootlegger supreme. Ruled East Vancouver in the ’20s and ’30s. Owned bawdy houses, ran gambling rackets, and bribed cops. Been dead over 50 years and old timers in East Van still fear his name.

Meet Nellie McClung , Activist - Fought to outlaw the demon drink and to close down the evil saloons. Leader of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Her motto? “Never retract, never explain, never apologize – get the thing done and let them howl!”

And finally Sam Kee, Businessman - Real name Chang Toy. Arrived 1874 in Vancouver penniless and by the 20's was one of Vancouver's richest businessman. Fought discrimination through his lawyers, with his fists and if needed, by the gun.

Guide

Trip Info

Mobsters! Opium! Booze!

Delve into Vancouver’s dirtiest secrets on this scandal fueled walking tour. You’ll discover dirty cops, a corrupt Mayor, and travel back to 1917 when Prohibition hit us harder than a slug of bathtub gin.

On this walking tour you’ll explore the secret underbelly of Vancouver’s prohibition history, while visiting the city’s most famous heritage buildings. You’ll take in the salacious Sun Tower and the ornate Dominion Building – once the tallest building in the British Empire. And you’ll travel into the back streets of historic Chinatown, once home to bawdy houses, opium dens and beer parlours.

From back alley blind pigs to Chinatown opium dens – these ain’t the kinda stories you’ll hear on tour buses!

Your adventure awaits!

Forbidden Vancouver

Discover Vancouver's dirty history. Now staging acclaimed walking tours Prohibition City, Lost Souls of Gastown and special event Secrets of the Penthouse. If your idea of adventure is following your guide down lamp lit alleyways, back to a world of illegal booze, opium dens, and unsolved murders, then you'll love Forbidden Vancouver.